Public Company News

Hammer Metals can’t put a foot wrong with the drill bit. Following news of 7% copper hits at Jubilee, the explorer this week announced high grade grade cobalt hits at Millennium in Mt Isa from the first drill program with a new Canadian partner. A three-hole program returned assays of up to 1.11% cobalt and has encouraged the partners to begin a 10-hole drill program next month.

Blina Minerals has discovered and dusted off a number of historic reports that show crazy cobalt grades of between 6% and up to 18% were mined on their Chilean La Cobaltera project as far back as 1844. Blina are completing a round of DD on the project which they currently have under option and they have also optioned up more ground near their project, dramatically extending their footprint.

Ironbark Zinc has moved closer to a development of its Citronen zinc-lead project in Greenland after appointing a leading global corporate finance adviser to line up finance for the US$514m project. A feasibility study in September delivered an outstanding set of numbers for Citronen, which has emerged as one of the world’s best undeveloped zinc projects just as zinc stocks head for critical lows on the LME.

Podium Minerals is aiming to become the first platinum mining operator in Australia when it lists on the ASX in February. The Perth-based explorer is looking to raise $6.6million for infill drilling and extended exploration campaigns to define a platinum-palladium resource at the Weld Range Complex in Western Australia. The company also has a number of strong potentially nickel and copper conductors at the project.

Blackham Resources has reloaded its armoury with a $14.3million loan to as part of a recapitalisation strategy aimed at taking the company into profitability from its Wiluna Gold project. The junior miner has shored up its balance sheet with news that some of its financiers and primary contractors will underwrite 36% of a forthcoming $36m rights issue aimed at putting the company on a sound financial footing with cash flow positivity achieved for the first time in December.

The Australian Patent Office has reported favourably on Lithium Australia’s international patent application for SiLeach, clearing the way for protection of its breakthrough lithium processing technology in 148 countries. The local patent authority reported that SiLeach, which slashes lithium extraction costs and opens up the possibility of treating lithium waste materials, is indeed “novel, inventive, industry applicable and patentable”.

After ending 2017 with some of its best-ever drill hits, Mt Isa-focused copper-gold explorer Hammer Metals is planning to start 2018 where it left off. A second RC drill program at the Jubilee prospect, 60 kms east of Mt Isa, will get underway later this month, aimed at extending high-grade hits of 7% copper in last month’s maiden drill program.

Galena Mining’s plans for a high-grade, underground development to finally unlock value from the fabled Abra deposit have received a major boost with the release of a remarkable set of assay results from a maiden drill program. The program has successfully targeted high-grade zones of lead mineralisation and is timed to perfection, with lead prices hitting seven-year highs earlier this month.

Perth-based Plymouth Minerals has launched a feasibility study for the San Jose lithium-tin project in Spain and begun the process of applying for a mining licence aimed at producing a world-class lithium supply line to the burgeoning battery industry in the heart of industrial Europe. A previous scoping study done on the project showed an annual EBITDA of USD$75m a year.

Fresh from last month’s $3.5m capital raising, Reedy Lagoon has wasted no time signing up a contractor to begin exploration drilling at its Columbus Salt March lithium brines project in Nevada. Boart Longyear has been contracted to drill a deep, large-diameter core hole that will extract brine samples from depths of up to 1000 metres.

Nzuri Copper has now taken final delivery of $10milllion from a placement to Chinese mining giant Huayou Cobalt and is kicking 2018 off on an upbeat note as it steps up the hunt for copper riches in central Africa. The Perth-based, ASX-listed junior will use the funds to develop its flagship copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to shore up its prospects from an aggressive exploration campaign.

Altech Chemical’s journey towards development of a high-purity alumina plant has taken another significant step from drawing board conception to sod turning reality with the application for a manufacturing licence from Malaysian authorities. The Perth-based company has also applied for ‘pioneer status’ in a bid for the project to be awarded a special tax exemption for the first five years of operation.